The country’s former spy boss suggested the Porton Down government laboratory - which identified the nerve agent novichok - was likely to have been behind the attempted hit.

A Russian MP said Theresa May had bought the poison from another country such as Ukraine in order to carry out a “false flag” operation and frame Vladimir Putin.

PA:Press Association

Authorities pictured outside Skripal's home in Salisbury following the poisoning

AP:Associated Press

Sergei Skripal was a former Russian spy working for MI6

The PM last night ordered Moscow to explain how novichok made by Russia ended up being used to poison the ex-spy, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33.

But Vitaly Milonov, a member of Putin’s party United Russia, told BBC Radio 4 today: “How can we respond with some fake news, nothing to do with Russian reality? Any crime must have a motivation - what is the motivation.

PM Theresa May confirms that Russia is 'highly likely' to have carried out the attack on former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury using military-grade nerve agent

“You can take this poison from Ukraine or other fake countries which are happy to help you, so I think this is something from a James Bond movie.

“They had to try to kill this poor pensioner, who is useless to us. This is a drama for British TV. It is the behaviour of Hitler.”

Sergei pictured with his daughter Yulia before the chemical attack last week in Wiltshire

PA:Press Association

The Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury, which has been cordoned off by police, where the ex-spy and his daughter dined before falling ill

In a bizarre rant, the MP also accused Poland’s former foreign minister of being a “Polish prostitute” for pointing out that Russia is not a democracy.

Earlier, former FSB chief Nikolay Kovalyov said: “There is a laboratory (near Salisbury), which is famous all over the world.

“Check if anything leaked from there.”

Meanwhile, chemical weapons scientist Dr Anton Utkin - a former UN inspector in Iraq - denied the existence of novichok, and echoed the claim that Britain maybe responsible for the poisoning.

Dr Utkin led the destruction of chemical weapons in Russia.

He said: “I was dealing with elimination of Russian chemical weapons and with all the responsibility I can say that we have never had a weapon under this name.

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“Actually, it is very strange that British experts have found out the formula of this 'super secret' poison nobody knows about.

“It is not clear either how they managed to determine that it was produced in Russia.

“If you know the technology, it is not possible to find out who made a chemical weapon – if the method is the same, the formulas of the substances will be identical.

“So this news only provokes more questions.”

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